Europe to Review Israel Trade Pact After 1 Million Sign Petition

The European Commission will examine the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel following a petition signed by over 1.1 million EU citizens. The Commission is scheduled to respond by May 2027. In the coming weeks, the Commission will meet with the petition organizers in Brussels to discuss the initiative in detail, after which the European Parliament will hold a public hearing. The Association Agreement, officially known as the "Euro-Israeli Association Agreement," was signed in 1995 and took effect in 2000. It establishes a free trade area and offers reduced tariffs for Israeli and European exporters and importers, primarily in industry and agriculture. The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for approximately one-third of its global trade in 2025. The ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon have intensified criticism of Israel and created divisions among European leaders. The petition was submitted under the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), a mechanism that requires the Commission to review initiatives with at least one million signatures from at least seven member states. According to Politico, only 14 out of 136 initiatives registered since the ECI's inception over a decade ago have reached the one million signature threshold. France led with 339,479 signatures, followed by Italy with 283,863 and Spain with 151,821. The initiative was organized by the European Left Alliance, a coalition of 11 left-wing parties, which began collecting signatures two years ago. They are calling for the EU to suspend commercial and political dialogue with Israel, alleging Israel's failure to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip. Approximately one-third of the signatures against Israel originated from France. While Politico suggests the review is unlikely to result in significant changes, the petition's high number of signatures reflects its impact on European public opinion regarding EU-Israel relations, compelling the Commission to issue a formal response. In a previous instance, the Commission rejected a proposal to expand abortion funding despite 1.2 million signatures. Separately, a new condition in the draft rules for the EU's "Horizon" research program (2028-2034) links non-EU participation to human rights, international law, and the Genocide Convention. Israeli officials believe this clause is intended to exclude Israel from the program. The European Parliament is expected to vote on these rules by the end of the month. Israel's Foreign Ministry and its embassies in Europe are working with Israeli allies in the European Parliament to amend or remove this clause. Israel plans to argue that the changes do not apply to it as a current participant, but concerns remain that those seeking to harm Israel may disregard this. A senior Israeli official involved in the matter warned that if these changes are implemented and Israel is expelled from Horizon, it would be a major blow to Israeli science and a significant achievement for the BDS movement, potentially causing a brain drain as Israeli scientists lose access to grants.